Then you can throw in Celtic’s Leigh Griffiths and Hibs’ man of the moment Jason Cummings – who have more appreciation than most for being put back on the straight and narrow.

The 57-year-old’s latest miracle attempt will take place next Wednesday when LTHV look for a win over East Kilbride to line up a Scottish Cup fifth-round meeting with Celtic.

But Smith insists he has never looked for a short fix – he prefers to see the bigger picture.

He said: “I think it was Gordon Strachan who said if they had an Olympic sport for getting in the last word then Scotland would win it.

“Leigh was one of these boys. You couldn’t put him into a structure, you just allowed him to go out and play as we knew what he could do.

“It was the same with Jason. We had to make the call to clubs, it wasn’t the clubs who came and found them.

Jason Cummings also played for the club

“Our club has never been about money. We want to help kids into teams and hopefully a good career.

“A lot of kids like Sparky and Jason find that sometimes football is too structured for them and they just want to play with their pals.

“They don’t want it complicated and they are lost to football. But if you get these boys back into good hands at around 15 then they can be brought back into the game.

“I’ve been around so many off-the-cuff, talented kids who have a bit of attitude but that character is sometimes kicked out of them when they move to academy teams.

“Leigh was the classic example, he had an attitude and edge which allowed him to stand out from the crowd.

“Scottish football used to be famous for these types of players.

“Sparky went down to Leeds and Middlesbrough and was outstanding, Jason went to Huddersfield and scored goals but neither wanted to go.

“I phoned Jason at his hotel and he said he couldn’t stay in England and wanted to come home.

“Leigh didn’t want to be taken away from his pals and that’s exactly what I was trying to do.

“We spoke to Celtic, Hearts and Hibs about him and they said he had too much baggage. All the clubs knew him but didn’t want to touch him. I had to convince Livingston that he was well worth taking and the rest is history.”

The clamour for a ticket at the K Park next midweek is unchartered territory for LTHV and the stakes have been raised with the winner sealing a money-spinner against Ronny Deila’s side.

Smith admits the publicity leading up to this titanic clash can help put his club on the map as he tempers the excitement with a need to resolve issues which threaten their future.

He said: “East Kilbride will be the same as us, it’s a qualified excitement as next Wednesday is now all or nothing. It’s impossible to put the possibility of facing Celtic to the back of your mind so it’s winner takes all.

“It’s mind-blowing to think of where we are now from where we were six years ago when we didn’t even have a senior side.

“It’s similar to East Kilbride in that we had never been in the Scottish Cup and this game is the biggest in both of our histories.

“This is the romance of the Cup and it may be the only time it ever happens to us. The chance of it happening again will be about one million to one.

“The only certainty is that next Thursday morning we will either be extremely deflated or extremely busy.

“Hopefully the attention the club is enjoying can be the catalyst for the council finally approving work we need to do to our ground.

“The exposure we are getting will hopefully allow people to see why we’ve managed to get to where we are and it’s basically about hard work.

Tam Smith (Image: Callum Moffat/Daily Record)

“The resources here are different from other clubs as we are basically a youth football organisation with a senior team attached.

“Most other clubs are a senior team with a youth section attached.

“It’s a club for the community, for boys and girls. We want to move forward but we can’t do that without the help of the council. We’ve been asked to jump through hoops to try and get our ground improvements in place.

“There have been five business plans put in and even letters of support from the likes of Sir Alex Ferguson.

“But we’ve been knocked back on five separate occasions.”

The warning signs for Scottish football at youth level have been well highlighted in recent times but if Smith’s experience is anything to go by then the promised revamp by the SFA needs to arrive in a hurry.

He said: “Edinburgh has lost 40 football pitches since I first took over at Hutchie Vale in 1986.

“Only been two grass pitches and two astroturf pitches have been built to replace them. Edinburgh is a rugby city. Maybe we are in the wrong city.

“We train on an area which is a designated flood plain right by the water of Leith and we won’t move from there as it can never be built on.

“Our lease has run out and I’ve been asking for another 25-year lease but the council have still to get back to us. Even our club, next to Saughton Enclosure, doesn’t have a lease on it and we’ve been here since 1968. There appears to be a complete disregard for clubs at our level.

“Our ground has barely been touched for about 50 years and we are willing to do it but obstacles continue to be thrown in our way. We want to make it our base as we can’t get into the Lowland League without an SFA licence and we can’t get that without a lease.”